Highbury College, a further education college in Portsmouth providing vocational and academic education and training, has successfully launched a new apprenticeship portal and e-recruitment platform from Eploy,

Being market-led and forward thinking, Highbury have an Apprenticeship Programme covering a diverse industry-base, including Automotive, Engineering, Business IT and Management and ever evolving apprenticeship opportunities.

In April 2017 the Government introduced an Apprenticeship Levy, the aim being to increase the quality and quantity of apprenticeships across all sectors of the economy to drive economic benefits such as addressing skills gaps and shortages. In parallel, Highbury College wanted to streamline their application and recruitment process for both applicants and employers through every chapter of their Apprenticeship Journey.

After researching the Applicant Tracking System and e-Recruitment market, Highbury College selected Eploy as the best fit for their requirements in terms of system functionality and flexibility.

They wanted to make the recruitment process as seamless and burden-free as possible for both potential apprentices and employers and offer a one stop shop for initial advertising, interviewing and shortlisting of candidates to ease the pressure on employers.

Prior to implementing Eploy, Highbury Employment Services, part of the College apprenticeship services, recruited through a manual paper based system which meant they had no central database of companies or candidates and no historical data to report on.

The new apprenticeship portal, was fully integrated into the Highbury College website to provide a unified look and feel and an online recruitment capability.

Toby Cartledge, Employment Services Co-ordinator, Highbury Employment Service – Student Central commented, “We wanted to have a more engaging and professional ‘look’ and be able to store data that we could link to other college systems. We provide apprenticeships for all ages so our chosen solution had to work across every platform. We wanted the candidate portal to be fully and seamlessly integrated into the college website – including the look and feel for continuity of the brand. Our registration and application process is now simplified. Registrants can log in and continue with any incomplete applications and check the progress of applications submitted”.

Commenting on the launch, Paul Rolfe, Managing Director, Highbury Commercial said “We wanted to further improve the apprenticeship services offered at Highbury through an enhanced apprenticeship portal. What we have now reflects our innovative organisation and has exceeded our expectations. We oversee 1000+ apprenticeships across a hugely diverse range of jobs and are looking forward to placing many more with an enhanced service. The Eploy team understood our needs and worked closely with us throughout the project to deliver our exact requirements for a better candidate experience. Highbury College are an innovative training provider and offer an extensive apprenticeship programme, which forms a valuable part of many workplaces. Eploy’s complete recruitment CRM provided all the tools we needed to offer a modern and intelligent service to our apprentices and employers. We’re thrilled with the launch of our apprenticeship site and have already had some great feedback on the experience. We feel we are well equipped for the future”.

Chris Bogh, Eploy’s Chief Technology Officer commented “Highbury College’s approach to making the candidate experience as seamless and straightforward as possible has enabled them to move from a spreadsheet based process to delivering a flexible service for both applicants and employers through every chapter of their Apprenticeship Journey. We’re delighted to have worked on this project with them and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”